Name: Paul TenEyck

Sports: Currently coaches Boys and Girls Varsity Golf, used to coach JV Baseball

Years coached at FHC: 25 years

Why do you coach? What makes you want to come and work with a bunch of high schoolers?

“I just LOVE to coach. I love to compete, always have been involved in sports. I love fostering the love of a sport in young people. I love teaching the sports that I love. I also am a firm believer that athletics teach so much more than the sport itself. I hope my athletes leave our program (they never leave….our motto is “Once you are a member of our golf family you are a member for life”. Players come back all the time.) they leave with something more than wins and losses.”

What do you do to motivate your team?

“Motivation changes every day, by the second, and is individual. Motivation goes way beyond wins and losses.”

What is your connection to the sport you coach? How did you get started coaching that sport?

“I played four years of varsity golf in high school and worked at a course for ten years in the summer. I’ve always loved golf and as I said above, I love competing and helping kids get better and grow as young adults.”

How do you help your team deal with losses?

“Losses in golf are very different than other sports. Some of the events we are in have 20+ teams. We try to first look at the positive of what happened in the event and then focus on what we can do better. Ultimately, losses build character and perseverance.”

What do you think that everyone should know about coaching?

“Coaching is an unbelievable way to make a difference in someone’s life. If you are coaching solely for wins and losses, you are coaching for all the wrong reasons. I have become part of so many families’ lives and they mine. That is the real ‘score’ for me.”

What is your favorite coaching memory?

“There are so many memories…It would be easy to say the championships: tournaments, conference, Districts, Regionals, and State Championships…and don’t get me wrong, they were awesome. But there are two stories I always love tellinga��”

“The first is when I was coaching JV baseball. We got beat pretty bad due to a horrible inning in which we made quite a few errors. After the game we talked about the importance of persevering as a team, and that the name on the front of their jerseys “Rangers” was more important than the name on the back, their name. I had them write the score from that game on the inside of their hat. As the season progressed, every time we hit a bad spot or a low, we did a “hat check” and looked at the score to help remind us that we were a TEAM, and we would get through it together. Most of the kids on that team wore that same hat as juniors and seniors and continued to look at the score when times were tough. I still see a few of those kids today and they are quick to let me know they still have that hat and were a part of THAT team!”

“The second was during a practice round for golf Regionals in 2009 (coincidentally our first state championship). I was playing with three of the boys and we came to a tee box where a couple of young kids were selling golf balls that they had found in their field. I went over and bought a ball and suggested to the three boys that they should do the same. One of them said, “Coach, I don’t have any money!” I asked him to look in his bag to see if he had any change, and he found two-quarters. He went over and found a ball and told the kids it was his favorite kind of ball. As we walked off the tee box, we turned and looked back. The kids were trading the quarters excitedly and smiling from ear to ear….my player looked at me and said, “I get it”. Life is more than just about you, life is about the people you touch and the mark that you leave.”

“Coaching is more than about wins and losses. It is about making a difference in some one’s life. Hopefully, I have been able to do that for at least of few of my athletes in the last 25 years and for years to come.”